News from Thailand – February 22, 2013

It is a good thing that Thailand cannot be ravaged by floods in the dry season, because then things would go wrong again, as witnessed by the accompanying photo of the khlong Maha Sawat in the Thawi Watthana district (Bangkok). During the floods in 2011, this important channel led water from the Chao Praya River to the Tha Chin River and from there to the sea.

The number of provinces stricken by drought is now 35. The government has allocated 2 billion baht to drill 9.000 wells. Those 35 provinces with 23.445 villages have been declared a disaster area; the worst are Kalasin, Yasothon, Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, Phrae, Chiang Rai and Roi Et.

The Department of Groundwater Resources recently conducted a survey of suitable sites in the affected areas. About 2.000 places are suitable, but the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department says at least 9.000 are needed to help households through the 90 days of the dry season (February 15-May 15).

In addition to drilling wells, other measures are also being taken. Water trucks and water pumps are going to the Northeast and the ministry is distributing 20.000 liters of water containers. Each province receives a budget of 2 million baht to dredge waterways. The Ministry of Agriculture has banned the second round of the off-season rice season.

– We have no choice. Build coal-fired power stations or invest in overseas energy production, because the demand for electricity is skyrocketing, says Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisarn (Energy). Opposition Democrats denounces Pongsak's timing: he is taking advantage of an impending energy shortage in April to push through unpopular policies. That shortage is imminent because two gas fields in Myanmar will be closed for two weeks due to maintenance work.

Due to the closure of the gas fields from April 5 to 14, electricity production, which is 70 percent dependent on natural gas, is at risk – or so the government wants to portray it. However, Democratic MP Alongkorn Ponlaboot points out that the closure has been known since last year. The government is using the closure not only to justify the construction of more plants but also to raise the electricity rate.

Another white lie from Pongsapat relates to the increase of the so-called fuel adjustment rate. That should increase by 48 satang per unit due to the closure, because the national electricity company Egat has to switch to bunker oil and diesel. But the Electricity Regulatory Commission already took that into account in December, says former energy minister Piyasvasti Amranand, when she announced that the Ft rate would increase by 4,04 satang in the January-April period.

According to the Energy Policy and Planning Office, Thailand will need 25.000 MW in the future to meet rising demand. The country currently consumes 31.500 MW per year, in 2030 this will be 70.000 MW, assuming an average growth of the gross domestic product of 3,7 percent.

Pongsapat considers the heavy dependence on natural gas risky. “Few energy sources are cheaper than natural gas – nuclear, water and coal. The so-called soft alternative fuels such as wind and solar have an expensive price tag of 10 baht per unit. When we rely on those resources, people's energy bills go up and the competitiveness of the industrial sector is eroded.'

There is currently one concrete plan for the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Krabi. But the population is against this, even if it concerns a 'clean' power plant that will make use of new technology. Experiences elsewhere in the country do not help to warm the population to coal-fired power stations either. In Lampang, the coal-fired power station led to health problems among local residents. They successfully sued the Ministry of Industry and the national electricity company Egat.

– The cemetery continues to fill with perpetrators of the demolished construction of 396 police stations. Now contractor PCC Development and Construction blames the Royal Thai Police (RTP). He failed to make the land to be cultivated available in time. According to PCC chairman Piboon Udonsithikul, this took XNUMX days in some cases. Piboon denies any political connection and says he has not been involved in price manipulation.

Now it's raining charges. The RTP is going to take the contractor to court for fraud, the Department of Special Investigation, which has investigated the case, is referring the case to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) with a recommendation to take action against some officials. Chuwit Kamolvisit, ex-owner of massage parlors and party leader of the Rak Thailand party, has gone to the NACC. He says that the current RTP chief and other police officers have been guilty of dereliction of duty. According to him, the RTP head should have broken the contract with the contractor, but it has been extended three times.

Incidentally, this article makes no mention of the fact that the contractor subcontracted the construction, which was not contractually permitted, and that he stopped paying the subcontractors. To be continued.

– I have three sons and no daughter. This is the comment made by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung on the claim of a 15-year-old girl with a 3-month-old baby that she is his daughter. The girl had come to parliament but was refused entry. A Democratic Party staffer spoke to her at a bus stop. She asked him to give a photo and a note to Chalerm. Chalerm has no intention of making any work of the matter.

– Three insurgents who had been hiding in Myanmar for 5 years, turned themselves in to the authorities of Narathiwat yesterday. One of them says he will ensure that 27 others follow their example, provided their safety is guaranteed. Insurgents have hung their lyre on the willows before. In most cases, they do not receive a prison sentence, but must follow a rehabilitation program.

Today, the Ministry of Justice and security services are discussing expanding the scope of the Internal Security Act (ISA). The ISA will replace the stricter Emergency Ordinance in some areas. Article 21 of the ISA makes it easier for insurgents to turn themselves in. The article is already in effect in four districts of Songkhla and one district in Pattani.

– The army has been looking for him for two years and Thursday is the day: French photojournalist Olivier Rotrou will testify in court about the death of six people in Wat Pathum Wanaram on May 19, 2010, the day the army ended to the weeks-long red-shirt occupation of Bangkok's Ratchaprasong intersection.

Soldiers of the 31st Infantry Regiment have been accused of shooting those six people from a subway station. The photographer has been with the soldiers all day. According to a source, the photographer would be willing to declare that the army is not to blame.

In another case, the court was unable to find a guilty party. On April 10, 2010, a Dusit zoo employee was shot dead in the zoo parking lot on his way home. The OM had asked the court to check whether he had been killed by a soldier. At the time, the army had permission to fire live ammunition. 150 soldiers were stationed in the zoo to protect the parliament and the zoo.

It is the sixth time that the court has been asked to find a guilty party for a victim of the disturbances in April and May 2010. The Department of Special Investigation has brought forward the cases.

– Was he acting on behalf of a rival political party or was it his own initiative? The police may answer that question now that they have arrested a 45-year-old man who pasted anti-Thaksin and anti-Pheu Thai stickers on election boards of Pongsapat Pongcharoen, the Pheu Thai candidate for governor. The suspect himself says that it was a one-man operation. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years behind bars.

– Union leaders oppose the proposal to raise the retirement age in the private sector from 55 to 60. They say that such an increase delays the payment of pensions and that is what many workers are waiting for.

The increase in the retirement age was proposed at a seminar on Tuesday by Ladda Damrikanlert, deputy secretary general of the Foundation of Thai Gerontology Research and Development Institute.

The Social Security Office, which pays the pensions, says it has no authority to raise the retirement age. That is a matter for employers and employees, said SSO Deputy Secretary General Arak Prommanee. If an employer wants to keep someone employed until the age of 60, the employee will continue to contribute to the pension fund [of the SSO] until that age.

The pension fund will start paying out next year. 5.000 people are eligible for this. They receive up to 3.000 baht per month. The SSO has been collecting pension contributions since 1999.

– Australia is willing to help Thailand to solve the problem of the Rohingya refugees. Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr promised this yesterday in a meeting with Minister Surapong Tovichatchaikul (Foreign Affairs). What exactly Australia has in store for Thailand is not known.

Thailand is currently home to more than XNUMX refugees. Some are said to have been on their way to Australia when they got stranded in Thailand or were smuggled into the country.

– That was about to burn: a fire in a large rubber factory. It therefore took the fire brigade more than 5 hours to get the fire under control and many hours to extinguish the fire. The factory in Muang (Yala) suffered 10 million baht in damage. The suspected cause was overheating of the smoking room. The company, South Land, is one of the major rubber exporters in the South and has the largest warehouse in the region.

– Yesterday the daily bus service Bangkok-Phnom Penh and Bangkok-Siem Raep vv started. Buses depart from Mor Chit at 8.15:9am and 11am respectively. The bus journey takes 900 hours and costs XNUMX baht.

Economic news

– The ticket of the BTS, the above-ground metro, will become more expensive in May. Operator Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc is passing on the costs of the increase in the minimum daily wage to the consumer. Electricity and maintenance costs have also risen, making the rate increase urgently needed. The three cost items make up 70 to 80 percent of total operating costs. The last time the BTSC raised prices was in 2005.

– Customers of the Islamic Bank of Thailand have withdrawn 5 billion baht from their bank accounts in the past two weeks. They respond to reports of the bank's weak financial position. Two MPs have called on the government to take swift action to restore confidence in the bank.

The so-called non performing loans are a major problem at the bank; they make up 22,59 percent of the total money lent, or 24,6 billion baht. This amount would be even greater using the same calculation method that commercial banks must use. Then the amount is 39 billion baht (30 percent).

Prawat Uttamote, MP for Pheu Thai and deputy chairman of the parliament's border affairs committee, says that according to the bank's restructuring plan, 50 percent of bad loans or 12 billion baht can be repaid within 2 years. “According to our analysis, the bank is not in immediate danger. The population should not panic or withdraw their funds, because that will only make the situation worse.'

Vice President Rak Vorrakitpokatorn says half of the bad loans can be repaid and the rest can be restructured through deferment or foreclosure and legal action.

Prime Minister Yingluck emphasizes that the deposits at all banks are fully protected by the Deposit Protection Agency. "The population need not worry," said Yingluck.

Areepong Bhoocha-oom, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, denies that there is any run on the funds. "There are withdrawals and there are deposits as always." The decline in deposits is believed to be related to the final maturity of some public company promissory notes and withdrawals by other services to maintain their cash reserves.

The Islamic Bank is Thailand's youngest bank; it was established in 2003 to provide financial services to Muslims who follow Shariah law.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post